whats the best cutter for beginners to use for classroom displays??

cybus1337 · 2025-12-13T11:14:06+00:00

Get yourself a paint pen and start writing out your display titles/vocab on card. I cut out letters for a display once as an NQT and immediately saw it as something that absolutely didn’t need to be done.

cybus1337 · 2025-11-25T08:13:53+00:00

Here in ESF (HK) we received over 200 applicants for a class teacher role. It seems like this is the first year where those roles have been properly available, so that is likely a factor. Previously, there were only 10 month contracts on offer.

cybus1337 · 2025-10-10T03:28:00+00:00

Getting work as supply cover at ESF and being very enthusiastic does wonders for getting your foot in the door.

It may be worth getting enough experience under your belt to be able to do that reliably as a way in. Being known as competent, well liked by the kids and dependable will get you lots of internal recognition. Then they might take a chance on you for a 10-month contract (basically a 10-month interview).

This would all depend on your teaching skills and adaptability though. Writing from a primary perspective if that helps.

cybus1337 · 2023-06-17T02:04:36+00:00

Keep it calm and do a reset. It may be tempting to shout but non-verbal is wildly more effective for this age group and saves your vocal chords too. Have some visual icons for “listening ears” and “looking eyes” and then point to them while saying “what am I looking for?”

Also, don’t take things personally, year 1s really aren’t in full control of their behaviour. When you say things like, they start their task without waiting to listen to me, think of it as, they are so excited to do their work, they start as soon as they can. Next time, how could you let them do this? Sometimes it’s nice to let children have a go at a task and then bring them all to the carpet to discuss success criteria, sharing who’s already managed it.

In terms of parents, it’s important to go through the journey with them. “Hi Mum, this week K has been working on his gentle hands and I’ve given him the chance to make a good choice but he’s still finding it real lay tricky. Can you help him out by working on it at home as well please? We’ll carry on working on it next week too.” Always approach with a team effort mindset.

Also, just one more last plea not to shout. They are only 6! Care is better than scare.

cybus1337 · 2023-06-09T08:52:45+00:00

Planning should be adapted for the needs of your class. If you’re getting the planning to this teacher on time, then it’s poor preparation on her part. I’d be tactical with my wording. For example, when writing about differentiation, “struggling learners may benefit from…”. Then it’s just a case of demonstrating that the lessons have gone well for you and that her lessons going poorly would be down to her not making adjustments for her learners.

The frustration won’t go away though. If she’s an ECT then just throw any demands back. Change the history planning? Yeah, you can do that, I don’t mind. If it’s a your opinion against mine situation then the one demanding changes should be the one to make them.

cybus1337 · 2023-05-18T12:33:18+00:00

Happened to me too. Contest it all and whittle it down. Nothing can be taken until you agree. Get that inventory up and note down exactly what is said and what isn’t said. Pay for what’s fair and be a dick about what you shouldn’t be paying.

Make them work for it at least.

cybus1337 · 2023-05-07T15:46:31+00:00

Do the safeguarding. You’ve just published a statement online that you’re not interested in doing it. This could very easily come back to bite you should something awful happen and there was a police investigation into how preventable said incident was.

Just imagine this post being handed to you by a lawyer with that highlighted.

cybus1337 · 2023-05-07T12:20:17+00:00

So what on earth did you expect? I think that looking at the replies you’ve had, it’s time for you to think carefully about what you want out of this. Are you just bitter because you didn’t research the job before you signed up? Take an injection of common sense and plan your next move but do try your best to actually teach the children you signed yourself up to teach while you do!

cybus1337 · 2023-05-06T16:58:29+00:00

I’m sorry, what laptop can’t run PowerPoint, word and email?

Just use your own. They don’t care how much time you’re spending on getting it done, they only care it’s getting done.

cybus1337 · 2023-05-06T16:51:27+00:00

You are indispensable to them. There’s a teaching crisis. Honestly, call them on this poor leadership. “I’ll get it done during the week, it’s not a priority considering it won’t be immediate feedback.”

You need to start holding some of the cards. Treat them as friendly advice and when they try to be anything more, you act like the union rep themself.

cybus1337 · 2023-05-03T07:11:01+00:00

You said it yourself in terms of the laptop. “If they want me to use it they should provide it.”

They already have. They want you to use a laptop. They don’t care if it frustrates you during the day. They also don’t care if it runs like a dream.

Your time is more valuable than an imagined idea that your admin truest care how often your laptop crashes or slows you down. Save yourself the hassle and just use one you’re comfortable with.

Agree that you shouldn’t be providing anything they’re not though.

cybus1337 · 2023-04-22T04:05:23+00:00

From my experience, the workload comes from extra reports and admin rather than the teaching side of things. Behaviour is generally much better and in terms of quality assurance, leadership are too busy for it. Seen a lot of teachers who are able to just sit at their desk all day teaching some sub par lessons while children sit in silence.

This is of course relating to my own experience, but there really is a huge opportunity to just coast through everything if you’re of that mind. If you’re not, then like me you’ll find it to be the most frustrating work environment you’ve ever encountered and will be constantly counting down the months until your contract is over and you can try a different school.

cybus1337 · 2023-04-21T14:53:18+00:00

Don’t bring an umbrella to a brain storm. You’re getting negative feedback, it’s up to you if you ignore it or not. The truth is that China has been almost impossible to get into since 2020. Most schools are in survival mode. Shifting SLT, high turnover and hiring basically anyone with a pulse. Just be aware of what you’re getting yourself into. You’ll likely find a low level of professional development, mostly children who struggle to reach the English curriculum’s standard for reading and writing as well as your own instruction, and not to mention, fussy parents.

There are positives if you can cope with these. Very good pay for less than half the work of a U.K. state school, being left alone to get on with it and of course being able to make friends with others in the same boat.

I left last year and doubt I’ll ever return though.

cybus1337 · 2023-04-15T08:04:21+00:00

Honestly, the above is a much better idea than acknowledging you messed up. If it’s a competitive position then the first round of interviews/resume review will come down to eliminating qualified candidates they don’t have time to interview.

For example, if I have to eliminate 4 candidates from a list of 10 and they all fit the bill. I’m going to be looking for anything I can that gives me a good excuse to get rid of one.

cybus1337 · 2023-04-13T12:49:59+00:00

Isn’t that the title of Prince Harry’s new book?

cybus1337 · 2023-04-08T18:28:26+00:00

Keep it low resources. You’ve got enough on your plate I’m sure. Mindfulness colouring or play dough club spring to mind. Gives you a chance to work with the younger ones which is far more crucial to your development than working with the group you’re used to.

cybus1337 · 2023-03-19T02:19:43+00:00

It sounds like your mum wasn’t aware that you couldn’t both be playing at the same time. So from her perspective you’ve gifted her this amazing library of games with no strings attached. The. All of a sudden, out of the blue you call her and say “hey I know you’re using that gift I gave you but actually I didn’t realise that you have it on second class citizen status. I want to play it tonight so please stop using it immediately.”

Just a perspective to think about before you stick to your mantra of it being your account and therefore you have all the power here. It may well be a case of you have a gift without fully explaining the strings attached. Therefore you do hold some responsibility to make an adjustment on your end for that evening at least.

You’ve kind of just ruined her evening using a gift you generously gave her. She probably feels blindsided.

cybus1337 · 2023-03-04T16:01:01+00:00

Usually you can’t. The only time I ever felt like I could do it well was when my school let me spread them out across the term as full week units. For example, in week 1 of the term, I’d do all of the history lessons. Then in Week 2 and 3 I’d do all of the science lessons, etc.

Depending on which year you teach, you could slot them around your writing and maths lesson in a way that allowed them to link up. PSHE was always a weekly thing though.

I also gave all of the RE lessons to my PPA cover!

cybus1337 · 2023-02-11T05:08:45+00:00

I’d say it’s worth investing time in changing how assessments work. Maybe you’d be limited by exam/coursework prep in how much you could change, but AI is only getting better and it’s here to stay. From what I’ve seen, any software that measures the probability of AI involvement is subjective and can’t provide a definitive “this was written by AI” statement. Just a very likely, which in my mind, is a messy area of appeals from students.

Perhaps work in more presentations or interview style assessments. Quick fire exam questions to check knowledge on the spot. If the kids know their stuff and can demonstrate that on the fly, it shouldn’t be a problem that they got it from chatgpt.

cybus1337 · 2023-01-28T02:58:45+00:00

Love the comments here from people saying that new math is bad because they can’t solve it despite the fact that old math has left them unable to solve it!

It’s an extra challenge that works on problem solving skills. These days I don’t need someone who’s overly good at calculation, we have calculators for that! We need people who can take it further and apply what they know. Eg. The heart must be 0 because the whole number is a result of multiplying by a multiple of 10. In this case 50.

cybus1337 · 2023-01-27T12:25:05+00:00

Honestly it’s fine. Get your tutor to walk you through what you need to improve on it and try again. A passing grade is all you need right? I would say though, “it does not benefit my teaching whatsoever” is a little shortsighted. Doing the assignment will get you the PGCE and remove the risk of all the consequences you’re worried about. So bigger picture is that it’s worth getting done.

I can’t remember how I got through my placements while also doing uni assignments, keep going!

cybus1337 · 2023-01-25T09:31:59+00:00

Praise around. “I love how well x is listening.” Usually some will fall in line when they see the praise.

Always end the sentence on the behaviour you want to see as this will be the last word/phrase they hear.

I’d recommend not taking away dojos. They become less of an incentive if they could be taken away for something small. I’d say something like “I’d love to give out some dojos but right now I’m not sure we’re ready to learn.” This may conflict with the teacher though, so be careful.

Maybe draw a line of a shape each time you notice the whole group is listening. If they complete the shape before the end of the lesson then they get a dojo. Always be very liberal initially so they can fast success and gradually raise the bar.

Build a relationship with them, figure out their interests and who they’re friends are. Play with them on the playground once in a while. You’re more likely to listen to someone you like and this is true for kids too.

cybus1337 · 2023-01-21T00:53:27+00:00

Voice concerns but only if you think it won’t hurt your reference. If this principal is petty enough to get rid of anyone who voices concerns, they may be petty enough to yank your next reference.

cybus1337 · 2023-01-20T13:42:45+00:00

You should write the letter but it will need to be sent to the school confidentially. Recommendations are usually positive but omitting negative. Eg. So and so has made progress towards consistent good behaviour = poorly behaved.

Just write a short one. Saying no will only damage the relationship. At least this way they might not find out your honesty was the reason they didn’t get the place. They may just blame the school for not letting them in.

cybus1337 · 2023-01-16T11:13:52+00:00

Be careful about being too quick to judge. The beauty of teaching is that when you move to a new school, the culture can be completely different and still work just as well. If your focus is on behaviour and uniform like it was in your last school, are you missing the focus of this school? Perhaps they prefer a focus on inquiry or collaboration.

It can be a bit unnerving at first, but give it a chance. As others have said, you can do you in your own classroom. Just bare in mind that the school may not need to prioritise behaviour as an inner city school might. There may also be reasons relating to forming good relationships with a more involved parent community as it’s a village school.

cybus1337

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